


Making Memories

by aruarudayo



Series: In Other Words [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, There's a fine line between fact and fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-18
Updated: 2014-08-18
Packaged: 2018-02-13 06:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2141157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aruarudayo/pseuds/aruarudayo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natsukashii (Japanese): Can be used to express a longing for the past. It connotes both happiness for the fondness of that memory and goodness of that time, as well as sadness that it is no longer. It can also refer to nostalgia for a life or event that one has not experience.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making Memories

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from epicrainbowpanda@dreamwidth

Sometimes, Dave gets confused. Traveling back in time makes for interesting memories since now the future is the past and the past is the future, but the future is still the future and the past is still the past. It’s not precognition when he knows that something is going to happen; it’s remembering, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like remembering since no one else remembers alongside him. 

Well okay, confused might not be the right word for it. It’s more like he’s tired that he can actually make sense of his own convoluted timeline despite not wanting to at all. He’s tired that he remembers all the doomed timelines as well as the one that succeeded and that the former tends to eclipse the latter nine times out of ten.

When he’s tired of being tired, he lets the others remember for him. 

Rose is always the first to find him, before he even realizes that he’s brooding. He supposes it’s a sibling thing, but then again, it’s Rose. Any weird familial telepathic connection they have would still fail before her perceptiveness. 

She never bothers dragging him out of whatever corner he’s hidden himself in; instead she tells him about when they were little, about how Mom would read stories to them and sing them to sleep. How Jaspers ate their pet bird and they tried to catch a new one from outside. How Dave thought he was too cool to join in their passive-aggressive battles but he took plenty of selfies on the battleground as their war progressed. 

Jade usually joins later, probably summoned by a text from Rose. She talks about her garden about how John gave her pumpkin seeds, followed by lots of flowers from Rose. She reminds Dave that he’d sent her corn, squash, peas, and other yummy things and how she would fall asleep in the atrium while she waited for them to sprout and grow. 

John is generally last to come; in the back of his mind, the part that still remembers on its own, Dave thinks that Rose purposely delays the Heir because his death is what started his whole time hopping gig, which led to all the aforementioned issues. Spending time with his best bro is good though, and Dave feels most at home with the three people he loves the most. 

Another part of him is glad to see John since he has some of the best memories. He talks about threatening imps with shaving cream and bouncing into battle on a trusty, bouncing steed, which is where Rose chimes in that he fell flat on his face pretty quickly. He talks about meeting Casey and giving her his rabbit, which is always hilarious no matter how many times he recounts it. Jade takes over to talk about the ship, about the reptiles and carapacians that inhabited it with her and John, how they would play tag with them—which was completely unfair—and teach them to play video games and cook cakes, the latter of which John put an end to rather quickly. 

“I already had Nannasprite cooking me things, and I’d grown up surrounded by sugar; there’s no way I needed more cake.”

“You couldn’t even eat Nannasprite’s cakes because they were made from ectoplasm!”

While John and Jade continue bickering, Dave sighs wistfully. “It’s nice to remember the good times.”

“Even though half of it is fiction?” Rose asks carefully. 

Dave nods. “For now, it’s not.”

“You should share your memories some time,” she suggests. “We’ve been doing this a while, since it seems to help you, so it won’t matter if it’s real or not.”

“Most of it will seem like fiction to you guys. And it won’t be nearly as happy.”

“It bothers you that you fixate on the negative events.” 

“It doesn’t bother me as much anymore,” he says with a shrug. “Yeah, I think about them a lot, and that tends to hurt. But there’s good things in there somewhere, and that’s why I have you guys.”

Rose smiles, and though Dave’s given up time-traveling, sometimes he wants to go into the past and relive moments like this.

They’ve gravitated towards their bedrooms, and Dave realizes now that he’s tired, just tired, like any teenager can be after spending time with his friends. He takes of his sunglasses and closes his eyes, hearing his friends’ argument taper off and feeling the bed dip in three different directions. 

For now, just being with his friends is enough. Maybe, someday, he’ll add to the nostalgia too.

**Author's Note:**

> Admittedly, this one is pretty weird.


End file.
